Heretofore there have been various efforts made to provide drawing indicators for bows inasmuch as bow and arrow shooting and archery hunting have become more popular in recent years and the bow and arrow devices have required greater accuracy in the sighting of the arrow, and the accuracy of shooting has been controlled both by the sighting actions as well as by the tension provided in the drawstring. Thus, various types of sighting equipment is provided on or available for use with most bows as made commercially today, and efforts have been made heretofore to provide an indication when the drawstring of the bow is pulled back to a proper length for obtaining the desired tension for shooting the bow accurately.
Reference is made to the structures such as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,867,920; 3,660,059; 3,866,592; 3,499,414 and 3,450,122. However, these sighting or drawing indicator devices as provided heretofore have in some instances required special arrows to be used therewith, or attachments have been provided on the bow that may be difficult to use in association with the arrow, the devices are relatively complicated or expensive, or the devices just have not provided a truly effective, convenient signal to indicate when the proper drawing action is obtained, and mostly these indicators have failed to provide any indication when an excessive drawing action is set up in the bow.
One particular problem that has been encountered by the archer in accurately sighting or aiming an arrow is to determined accurately when the arrow has been drawn back on a bowstring to the most desirable position for shooting the arrow and providing the proper tension in the drawstring for accurate firing of the arrow. Such action must be obtained without diverting the archer's attention from properly sighting the arrow at the time of its release so that a further difficulty is encountered in maintaining the head or tip end of the arrow in proper relation to the arrow shelf or rest section provided on the bow at the central stock or shank body part thereof.
Furthermore, recently many bows used for most sophisticated hunting or target shooting actions have comprised so-called compound bows wherein further controls or limitations are placed on the sighting, drawstring tension, drawstring drawing allowance, etc. since all of such factors combine to control the ultimate accuracy of the archer and determine whether or not a satisfactory shooting action can be obtained.
By my present invention, I have been able to resolve the above-identified difficulties by relatively simple operating means that can be readily attached to existing bow and arrow units. These means include a connector member operatively engaging the bowstring and connected to a multi-contact switch device for movement so as to close one or both of a pair of electric circuits for energizing one or both of two associated signaling means in such a manner that the archer will know when the arrow has been drawn back to a desired shooting position and when the drawstring has been pulled back further than a desired drawstring position. Such signaling means are provided to the archer in visual association with the sighting mechanism on the bow whereby the archer does not need to worry about the proper tensioning or drawing action of the drawstring and he can just position the arrow in conventional engagement with the positioning shelf on the bow in the usual manner while obtaining conventional sighting of the arrow by a visual indication readily apparent to the archer without diversion from his conventional or normal sighting action while simultaneously obtaining a bow drawing indication to signal when he is ready for arrow release.
It therefore is the general object of the present invention to overcome the foregoing problems and difficulties of prior types of bow drawing indicators and to provide an indicator apparatus which readily and accurately indicates to the archer when the drawstring is suitably tensioned or drawn in the bow and arrow assembly for most accurate arrow shooting action.
Another object of the invention is to provide a bow drawing indicator that can be readily attached to existing bow and arrow units.
Another object of the invention is to provide a relatively small, lightweight, inexpensive unit that has good service life and provides convenient reliable information to an archer for bow drawing and archery shooting actions.
Yet another object of the invention is to improve the accuracy of an archer, and to facilitate obtaining proper bowstring drawing action in an arrow sighting situation whereby the archer can obtain accurate bow drawing information while concurrently sighting the arrow for most effective shooting thereof.
The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will be made more apparent as the specification proceeds.